The present invention relates to the field of video presentation. In particular, the present invention relates to a method for partial deletion of a recorded program stored on a digital recording device.
Since the advent of analog video recording devices, such as video cassette recorders (VCR), people have recorded television programs for viewing at a later time. Recent technological advances have led to the creation of digital video recording devices, such as personal video recorders (PVR) and digital video recorders (DVR). PVRs and DVRs provide similar recording functionality to traditional VCRs; however, digital recording devices provide a number of features and enhancements not available on VCRs.
One improvement available in PVRs and DVRs is that recorded television programs are stored digitally on an internal storage device (e.g., a hard disk drive). A user can program the device to record a television program to the hard drive for viewing at a later time. Often, a user can subscribe to service that provides downloadable channel guides that can be used to record every instance of selected television programs whenever they are broadcast. Due to the amount of programming available to the typical user, often hundreds of channels, and the finite amount of storage space of a PVR or DVR, it is common for a user to fill the storage space of the hard drive. When the storage space is filled, no more television programs can be recorded.
Once a user has viewed a program, the user has the option of deleting the entire television program. Deleting a television program releases the storage space used to store the television program, allowing the recording of other television programs. However, a user may not have enough time to view the entire recorded program, so the user does not delete the television program, saving it so that the remaining portion can be viewed at a later time.
Currently, only an entire television program can be deleted from a PVR or DVR. Due to the viewing habits of many users, it is possible that the storage space of a PVR or DVR may be full while a number of the recorded television programs have been partially viewed. However, since only entire recorded television programs can be deleted from the device, the storage space used by previously viewed portions of recorded television programs cannot be used to record additional television programs.
Accordingly, a need exists for a method and/or device that provides for efficient use of the storage space of a digital video recording device. Furthermore, a need exists for a method and/or device that satisfies the above need by allowing for deleting viewed portions of recorded television programs. A need also exists for a method and/or device that satisfies the above needs, and is easily integrated into commercially available digital video recording devices.
A data management method for recorded programs stored on a digital recording device, in accordance with various embodiments of the present invention, is presented. In one embodiment, the digital recording device is a personal video recorder (PVR). In another embodiment, the digital recording device is a digital video recorder (DVR).
A portion of a first recorded program is rendered to an audio/video device. In one embodiment, the first recorded program is a recorded television program. In one embodiment, the audio/video device is a television. In one embodiment, the first recorded program is stored within a hard drive of the digital recording device or another suitable digital recording medium. In one embodiment, the first recorded program is stored as a Moving Pictures Expert Group (MPEG) video stream.
A user command is received, wherein the user command is for releasing memory associated with the rendered portion of the first recorded program. In response to the user command, the memory associated with the rendered portion of the program is released, wherein the memory is available to store data associated with a second recorded program and subsequently a remaining portion of the first recorded program is maintained in memory and thereby available for presentation to the audio/video device. In one embodiment, where the first recorded program is stored as an MPEG video stream, the first recorded program is concatenated at an Intra frame of the MPEG video stream. The portion of the first recorded program prior to the Intra frame is released.
In one embodiment, a second user command is received, wherein the second user command is for presenting the remaining portion of the first recorded program. Where the first recorded program is stored as an MPEG video stream, audio and video of the MPEG video stream are synchronized according to a presentation time stamp of the MPEG video stream. The remaining portion of the first recorded program is rendered to the audio/video device.